Leila Dehghan - Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
Mohammad-Taghi Golmakani - Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
Seyed Mohammad Hashem Hosseini - Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
Dariush Zare - Department of Biosystems Engineering, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

In the present study a two-step acid-catalyzed esterification and alkaline-catalyzed transesterification process using microwave heating method was compared with conventional heating method. Free fatty acid was reduced to less than 2.0% in the first step. Comparing microwave alkaline-catalyzed transesterification results with those of the conventional heating method showed that microwave can significantly increase methyl ester yield and purity, and simultaneously decrease reaction time.

Esterification, Transesterification, Olive oil, Biodiesel